Prague public transport inspectors handed out 250,000 fines last year

Inspectors from Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) were busy last year, according to the 2022 DPP annual report. They handed out a total of 255,115 fines for fare evasion, netting the company a whopping CZK 213.7 million.

The number of fines issued represented a 16 percent increase compared to the previous year, while the amount of revenue collected from the fines was up by a substantial 41 percent over 2021.

The majority of fines were paid within 30 days of issuance. The company highlights greater efficiency in processing fines for the large increase in revenue collected from them.

"Thanks to higher work efficiency, we collected 52 percent more fine at the site of inspection compared to 2021, and thus eliminated the need to further enforce them through the courts," the report reads. "[About] 76 percent of passengers pay the fines within 30 days of their imposition."

DPP ticket inspectors ramped up the number of inspections conducted last year, increasing them by 15,000 compared to 2021.

While most passengers willingly pay their fines within a month, however, DPP saw a decrease in fines recovered through legal measures in 2022. This decline was attributed to DPP's participation in last year's 'merciful summer', in which debtors were able to repay debts without additional penalties or fees.

Prague's public transport company recorded significant growth in its operations in 2022 aside from the fines, including an increase in kilometers traveled and passengers transported.

DPP's fleet of vehicles covered approximately 181.2 million kilometers throughout the year, and carried a whopping 892 million passengers, reflecting an upward trend of about 5.5 percent compared to the previous year.

The highest number of passengers, 338 million, used Prague's metro, with trams and the Petřín cable car transporting about 314 million passengers. DPP buses carried another 232 million people last year. Prague's public transport company has a fleet of 730 metro cars, 769 trams, and 1,192 buses in active service. 

DPP employs a total of 10,987 people according to the annual report, with 9,371 of them being men. Transport vehicle drivers account for nearly 40 percent of the company's workforce. The average wage across all positions in the company was CZK 50,164 per month.